Inspection and Certification

 

Info for customer: How to become certified in accordance to the
USDA/NOP Standard by Austria Bio Garantie (ABG)

 

The potential client indicates interest for inspection and certification according to the NOP-regulations to the ABG office.
The ABG provides sufficient information to persons seeking certification to enable them to comply with the applicable requirements of the regulations (information for customers: how to be certified ABG0312de applicability ABG0295de, general requirements ABG0299de, application ABG0296de, continuation of certification ABG0301de, appeals ABG0304de, the link to the National List ABG0303de, label, labeling instruction ABG0292de, and actual information on our website www.abg.at .
We provide to the potential applicant blanks of NOP inspection sheets, forms and other documents (like the OPHP) as well as the “generally fee information” ABG0336e with information of how to apply and which fees are nonrefundable.

The potential client returns the application according §205.401. ABG starts the review of application acc. §205.402 using form ABG0338de (see also ABG0298de). ABG returns the result of the review of application together with the customized fee estimation ABG0337e (see also ABG0297e), two copies of the contract and the information about the further procedure. The client shall pay the initial fee and has to return the signed contracts the officially apply for certification starts. ABG countersigns the contract and returns one exemplar to the client.

ABG will announce a date for the initial on-site inspection which has to be confirmed by the client.
An ABG inspector will perform an on-site inspection the operation's activity with regard to verify the compliance with the NOP-standard according §205.403 (see also ABG0305de). The findings will be discussed and documented in the inspection report. A copy of the inspection report and any test results will be sent to the inspected operation.
ABG will review all information which has been supplied by the applicant or the inspector. If the review results a denial of certification acc. §205.405 (see also ABG0300de), the applicant will be sent a notification of noncompliances or at least a notice of denial of certification. The applicant could correct noncompliances and submit a description of the corrective actions taken with supporting documents to the ABG or he could file an appeal of the denial of certification.
If the review of the corrective actions or the review of the initial information indicates that the applicant is able to comply or is in compliance with the requirements of the NOP Standard, certification shall be granted §205.404 (see also ABG0313de) and a certificate shall be issued.
As soon as certification has been issued the client can start to market organic products in accordance with the USDA/NOP standard.
For continuation of certification acc. §205.406 an annually on-site inspection has to be performed (see also ABG0301de). Therefore the certified operator has to send an annually updated OPHP and any annually updated information concerning the certified handling operation prior to the on-site inspection to the ABG.